


Anniversary

by isabeau



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Gen, Kinda old fic (pre-2005)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-01-01
Updated: 2005-01-01
Packaged: 2017-10-18 07:36:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/186495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/isabeau/pseuds/isabeau
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daniel misses an appointment, and Jack misses Daniel.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Anniversary

Daniel took a while to answer the door; and when he did, it was very clear that he hadn't been expecting company. He was wearing a too-large sweater long enough to hide his hands and drape down past his waist, a faded pair of worn jeans, and thick white socks that bunched at his ankles. His eyes were wide and blue behind the glasses, and his mouth was slightly open.

"Daniel," Jack said evenly.

"Jack." Daniel matched his tone, but his forehead and nose were wrinkling in confusion. "Wh... um, what're you, uh... I wasn't expecting you."

"I couldn't tell," Jack said dryly, looking pointedly _down_.

Daniel followed his gaze, staring at his shoeless feet with bemused interest. "I wasn't expecting _anybody_ , actually. Uh, you could, uh... I suppose you want to come in."

He gestured, and Jack stepped inside. There were no lights on, and the half-empty bottle in his hand looked suspiciously like beer. "Thought you didn't like beer."

"I don't." Daniel rubbed his forehead with the back of his bottle hand, and the label was clearly beer. "Um, Jack? Not meaning to be rude, but, uh, why are you here?"

"Teal'c thinks you don't love him any more. I think it'll take flowers, maybe chocolate..." Jack flashed Daniel a don't-kill-the-messenger smile, and waited. /One...two...three.../

Realization chased confusion from Daniel's face, followed closely by a deep, blush-red chagrin. "That was tonight? Jack, I'm sorry, really, I just forgot, I'm really sorry."

"Tell that to Teal'c," Jack said, joking to hide his worry. It wasn't like Daniel to forget SG1's semi-official Night Out -- usually dinner, it was their only time together that they were guaranteed _not_ to get interrupted by Goa'uld or Jaffa or Tok'ra or giant man-eating mosquitos or whatthehell ever. It had been partly Daniel's idea, and he _never_ forgot. Never. _Ever_.

Except, apparently, tonight.

"Daniel," Jack said, dropping the teasing tone, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing." Daniel scowled at him and turned away. "Nothing, okay, Jack? I just...I just forgot, okay? I'm human, I'm allowed to forget..."

"Yeah, but it's not _like_ you to--"

"Like me?" Daniel whirled suddenly, surprisingly angry. "It's not _like_ me, Jack? How would you know, huh? How would _you_ know? Look, I'm sorry I spoiled your dinner--"

"Our dinner," Jack corrected automatically.

"Fine, _our_ dinner -- but that doesn't give you the _right_ to come barging into my private life and--"

"Danny. Daniel! Whoah there." Jack held up his hands. "No barging. I just wanted to make sure you're okay."

"I'm _fine_ ," Daniel said, emphatically and not very believably, and stalked away to the couch, sitting down with his back towards Jack.

Jack blinked at him for a moment, assessing the situation. Fact: Daniel was very _not_ okay. Fact: All of Daniel's language, verbal and body, was screaming 'go away, leave me alone'. Fact: Jack was quite talented at disregarding body language in favor of what had to be done.

Moving slowly, he stepped up behind the couch and rested his hands lightly on Daniel's shoulders. Daniel flinched but didn't pull away, so Jack began to knead gently. Beneath the soft fuzziness of the sweater, Daniel was alarmingly tense. /I'm not leaving, Daniel,/ Jack promised silently. /Not until you tell me./

There was a long moment of silence, and then Daniel sighed and relaxed into Jack's hands. "Five years," he mumbled.

"What?"

More clearly, now: "Five years."

"Since...?" Five years _what_? Jack kept his hands moving as he thought. Five years of...the Stargate project? Yeah, the timing would be about right. Five years ago was when he'd gone back to Abydos, back to fetch Daniel because "Ra" was invading, back to bring Daniel to the SGC when--

Oh. In a very soft voice, hoping he was wrong, he asked, "Sha're?"

"Yeah."

One word, full of still-raw pain, and Jack felt a familiar clenching ache deep in his chest. "Oh, Daniel..."

Something inside Daniel seemed to shatter at that; he wrenched forward, away from Jack, shoulders shaking with terrible, painful, silent sobs. Jack fought a rush of sympathetic guilt as he moved around the couch to sit next to Daniel.

"Hasn't stopped hurting," Daniel choked out. "Every night...I fall asleep wondering what I could have done, where I could have searched...I should have been there for her, and I wasn't."

A thousand what-if's, a thousand should-haves, that Jack knew all too well. Carefully he put his arms around Daniel's shoulders, drawing the other man close, so that each sob shook his own body as well. There was nothing he could think of to say that would ease the pain, so instead he just sat silently, one arm holding Daniel close to him, the other stroking through his soft short hair.

Gradually, Daniel stilled, forcing the sobs under control with a steady series of gulps. "Sorry," he said at last, voice muffled against Jack's chest. "I...don't usually let other people see that."

Jack closed his eyes and didn't let go. How many nights had Daniel spent, alone with his grief, only to show up the next morning alert and smiling? "I know," was all he said.  



End file.
